Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Black Cultural Archives

baroness bull: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to supporting the Black Cultural Archives as a unique national heritage centre for African and Caribbean communities in Britain.

lord ashton of hyde: The Black Cultural Archives (BCA) makes an important contribution to preserving and celebrating the diverse cultural heritage of Britain, as well as supporting the local community in Lambeth. BCA has received significant support, including over £4 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore and develop Raleigh Hall in Brixton as a permanent home and heritage centre for BCA’s archives and collections. DCMS is working with BCA, alongside The National Archives and other DCMS public bodies, to help it to become financially sustainable and to seek to develop its ambitions to become a national resource.

Department for International Development

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

baroness deech: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 20 June 2016 (HL413), whether they will make available the independent audits relating to UK direct financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority.

lord bates: In line with Section 27 of the Freedom of Information Act (2000), we withheld the audit reports of the Palestinian Authority (PA) from 2010 - 2015, in order to protect delivery of our poverty focused objectives.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

baroness deech: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 20 June 2016 (HL413), what is their assessment of (1) the adequacy of independent audits relating to UK direct financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority, and (2) the regular reviews of those audits, following of PwC’s response to a complaint submitted to the UK National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises that the narrow scope of its auditing work did not require it to consider the distribution of funds to individuals implicated as terrorists.

lord bates: UK officials safeguard and continuously monitor the expenditure of UK aid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. UK aid is channelled through the EU Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism (PEGASE). Our money goes into a special, dedicated bank account before being paid to individuals who have been vetted in advance. Independent auditors then check that the money paid out of the UK dedicated bank account only goes to these vetted individuals after every disbursement. We remain confident that these measures enable us to adequately monitor and evaluate our support to the Palestinian Authority. The UK National Contact Point has published its Initial Assessment of the complaint made by a UK NGO. This concluded that the issues raised in the complaint merit further examination. The Initial Assessment is not an indication of any wrongdoing by the respondent. The UK National Contact Point is now working with both parties to facilitate mediation on the issues raised. In line with its procedures, the NCP will not be expected to publish further information on the case until this stage of the process is complete and a Final Statement has been prepared.

Department for International Development: Allowances

lord foulkes of cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what allowance is paid to Department forInternational Development officials based in Abercrombie House, East Kilbride, when they are required to stay overnight in London in connection with their work.

lord bates: DFID employees do not receive an allowance. DFID employees undertaking a duty visit in London and require hotel accommodation have a rate cap of £115 room only or a 1st class berth on a sleeper train. A breakfast allowance of up to £15 and reimbursement of reasonable spend for meals.

Ethiopia: Ethnic Groups

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 2 November (HL10899), whether they are cooperating with other countries in their support of the Manjo people in Southern Ethiopia; and whether they intend to raise the social, political and economic marginalisation of the Manjo people at the United Nations.

lord bates: Further to my reply of 2 November, I can confirm that the Civil Society Support Programme through which the UK supported marginalised communities in Ethiopia, including the Manjo, was a multi-donor programme. Contributors alongside DFID for the first phase of the programme were Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Canada and Denmark. The current phase of the programme which will continue to have a focus on marginalised communities including the Manjo will be supported by Ireland, Sweden and Norway. At this time we believe the Ethiopian government is taking steps to address the challenges which the Manjo and other marginalised groups face, and that continued engagement in-country alongside our international partners is the best course of action. We do not plan to raise the issue in the United Nations at present.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Ebola

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are giving to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help to manage the recent Ebola outbreak in that country.

lord bates: The UK responded quickly to support the international response, led by Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), as the second largest donor to the Strategic Response Plan. UK support has helped to improve leadership and co-ordination, surveillance, infection prevention control and preparedness measures. The UK is also supporting international response mechanisms tackling this latest outbreak, including the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the WHO's Contingency Fund for Emergencies. The UK is the largest donor to CERF and the second largest donor to the WHO Contingency Fund. In 2014 DFID worked with the Wellcome Trust to develop an Ebola vaccine. This was subsequently developed by others into the experimental vaccine now being administered by the Ministry of Health and WHO teams. Furthermore, the UK is supporting neighbouring countries like Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan to ensure they are as prepared as possible for any regional transmission of Ebola, including funding for key UN posts in these countries.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

lord truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence they have that the badger cull in Somerset and Gloucestershire has been effective.

lord gardiner of kimble: In September of this year, the Animal and Plant Health Agency published data showing there has been a drop in cattle TB incidence in the first two cull areas, where the number of new confirmed breakdowns has dropped by around 50%. In the Gloucestershire cull area, the incidence of TB has dropped from 10.4% before culling began to 5.6% in the twelve months following the fourth year of culling. In the Somerset cull area, it has dropped from 24% to 12%. Using the TB incidence measure for this purpose is in line with the reporting of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial and National Statistics. It is the best way to monitor the impact of badger control in these areas. These data provide an encouraging sign that the steps we are taking to control the disease are having a positive impact, and are consistent with the effects seen during the Randomised Badger Culling Trial. Further analysis of the data is underway and will be submitted to a scientific journal for publication in due course.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Financial Reporting Council

baroness bowles of berkhamsted: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House theframework document for the Financial Reporting Council as agreed with its sponsoring department, as required by the HM Treasury document,Managing Public Money,published in July 2013.

lord henley: The Framework Document between the Financial Reporting Council and the Department is in the process of being agreed. Once agreed, it will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the levels of (1) exports to countries outside the EU, and (2) imports from EU countries for the last two quarters for which figures are available; and what assessment they have made of any changes.

baroness fairhead: The latest figures reported by the ONS show that:1: The value of UK exports of goods and services to countries outside the EU was £86.6bn and £86.1bn in Q1 2018 and Q2 of 2018 respectively. There has been an increase of 3.7% in UK exports to non-EU countries in the year to June 2018, compared to the previous 12 months.The 3.7% growth in non-EU exports in the year to June 2018 was driven mainly by goods, which increased by £7.0bn (4.2%) over this period. Services exports also increased by £5.4bn (3.3%) in the year to June 2018. 2: The value of UK imports of goods and services from EU countries was £86.4bn and £88.9bn in Q1 2018 and Q2 of 2018 respectively. There has been an increase of 4.9% in UK imports from the EU in the year to June 2018, compared to the previous 12 months.The 4.9% growth in imports from the EU in the year to June 2018 was driven mainly by goods, which increased by £12.3bn (4.9%) over this period. Services imports to the EU also increased by £4.0bn (5.0%) in the year to June 2018.



UK Trade in Goods/Services (EU & non-EU)
(Word Document, 13.84 KB)